10 Book Challenge

[stony]

The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
The Stand - Stephen King
Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach
Animal Farm - George Orwell
LOTR - Tolkien
Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett
Legend - David Gemmell
Magician - Raymond E Fiest
Deathstalker - Simon R Green
Truckers - Terry Pratchett

Not necessarily my favourites but they are the most memorable

 

[DelToro]

The Wasp Factory is getting a lot of references.

I remember looking at it in a book shop and being impressed by the fact that the back cover contained not just the good reviews but the critical ones too.

The one I remember is "You can't laugh and throw up at the same time." As soon as I read that I bought the book and I was hooked on it immediately.

I saw Iain Banks do a reading from the Crow Road in Manchester in 1992 - he came across as very down to earth and humorous.

 

[stony]

Some of my favorites have already been mentioned. In particular Catch 22, Bravo Two Zero, Paddy Clarke Ha ha ha, Lord of the Flies and Angela's Ashes.

1. The Beach - Alex Garland
2. The Football Factory - John King
3. The Wrong Boy - Willy Russell
4. American Tabloid - James Ellroy
5. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
6. The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay
7. The Crow Road - Iain Banks
8. A Song of Ice and Fire - George RR Martin
9. The Dark Tower - Stephen King
10. The First Law - Joe Abercrombie

Honourable mention to Bernard Cornwell and David Gemmell.

Just read 'Legend' by Gemmell, excellent book.

Highly recommend his Troy trilogy. Brilliant, even though the third was completed after his death.

I've just downloaded his entire catalogue. The only books of his I hadn't read were Ironhands Daughter and the follow up. It was easy to see were he got the idea for the Rigante series. The last one is the third in the Troy trilogy. I'm going to refresh my memory by reading the other two first.
I've met Gemmell on a couple of occasions and he was a great raconteur. He could speak as well as he wrote.

 

[jimmy blue shoes]

Just read 'Legend' by Gemmell, excellent book.

Highly recommend his Troy trilogy. Brilliant, even though the third was completed after his death.

I've just downloaded his entire catalogue. The only books of his I hadn't read were Ironhands Daughter and the follow up. It was easy to see were he got the idea for the Rigante series. The last one is the third in the Troy trilogy. I'm going to refresh my memory by reading the other two first.
I've met Gemmell on a couple of occasions and he was a great raconteur. He could speak as well as he wrote.

It's not often I get genuinely upset at the loss of people in the public eye but I was gutted about both Gemmell and Iain Banks. Selfish really, but it's sad that I can't look forward to their next books. (George RR Martin better not go the same way. He doesn't look too healthy and it takes him an age to get a book finished)

 

[johnny on the spot]

Watership Down by Richard Adams

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

The Iron Man by Ted Hughes

Roger Red Hat by Sheilagh McColluch

Njal's Saga

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Collected Poems by Christina Rossetti

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Spike Milligan - Adolf Hitler 'My part in his downfall' series
Sebastian Faulks - Bird Song
Richmal Crompton - 'Just William' series
Frederick Forsyth - Day of the Jackal
Clive James - Unreliable memoirs & Falling towards England
Harper Lee - To kill a mockingbird
Joseph Heller - Catch 22
David Simon - Homicide: A year on the killing streets
Mark Lewisohn - Tune in (vol 1)
Robert Goddard - Past caring

 

[Celeste]

Dubliner's - James Joyce
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
1984 - George Orwell
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- Time - Mark Haddon
Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Stoner - John Williams
Of Mice and Men - john Steinbeck
Persuasion - Jane Austin
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon. (Thanks Uncle Fester for reminding me)!!

Not many people in the UK i know have read Mitch Albom, love his writing. Have you tried '5 people you meet in heaven', absolutely lovely book.

Hi yes I have read 5 people you meet in heaven, think that was the first of his books I'd read, picked up the book when in the US. Tuesdays with Morrie reminds me of a very personal situation. Just finished the Time Keeper and have read For One More Day. I look out for his work, not sure why but each one has been enlightening.

 

[Mozzer]

The Grapes Of Wrath- John Steinbeck.
Cannery Row- John Steinbeck.
Nineteen Eighty Four (not 1984 pedants!) George Orwell.
Money- Martin Amis.
To Kill A Mocking Bird- Harper Lee.
Silas Marner- George Elliot.
The Trial- Franz Kafka.
On Chesil Beach- Ian McEwen.
Under Milkwood- Dylan Thomas.
99% of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories.



Catch 22 is one of the few books that I only got as far as the first chapter. I will have to give it another go.

 

[stony]

The Wasp Factory is getting a lot of references.

I remember looking at it in a book shop and being impressed by the fact that the back cover contained not just the good reviews but the critical ones too.

Its the only Iain Banks book I've read, and its not the sort of stuff I usually read. Some of it was funny, some of it pure genius, but some of it was very disturbing. There's one particular chapter that describes what sent Eric over the edge and it was fucking horrible. Its stuck with me ever since.
I've never had the urge to go out and try another of his books.

 

[poh]

Some of my favorites have already been mentioned. In particular Catch 22, Bravo Two Zero, Paddy Clarke Ha ha ha, Lord of the Flies and Angela's Ashes.

1. The Beach - Alex Garland
2. The Football Factory - John King
3. The Wrong Boy - Willy Russell
4. American Tabloid - James Ellroy
5. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
6. The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay
7. The Crow Road - Iain Banks
8. A Song of Ice and Fire - George RR Martin
9. The Dark Tower - Stephen King
10. The First Law - Joe Abercrombie

Honourable mention to Bernard Cornwell and David Gemmell.

American Tabloid!

Another one I'd forgotten.

Best crime book I have ever read.

I could have picked any one of Ellroys novels but I was fascinated by JFK conspiracy theories at the time. After reading this book I found it hard to believe it happened any other way. Fiction at its very best!


I'm already remembering books I wish I had put on the list. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks should have made my Top 10.

Why not finish the trilogy with the cold six thousand and blood's a rover ?